Pope supporter sues Hague for defamation

As a blogger, you never know which otherwise boring, nondescript local politician might someday blossom into an endless source of amusing blog fodder. Take for example King County Councilwoman Jane Hague, who to this connoisseur of political snark has only grown better with age. In fact, we could say that Hague has aged like a fine wine… though if we did, she’d probably try to drink herself.

After she narrowly survived a hard-fought three-way race between herself, Richard Pope and a four-liter jug of Chablis, I had assumed that my fun at Hague’s expense was over. But that was before I received an email from Bellevue businessman Paul Brecht, one of Pope’s most ardent supporters during his 2007 run for county council, informing me that he is suing Hague, her husband, and her campaign consultants for defamation of character.

The lawsuit stems from a nasty piece of direct mail Hague sent out, in which she not only attacked her opponent (and God knows our friend Richard offers a rich enough vein there), but she also personally targeted Brecht for having the temerity to publicly endorse him:

Problem is, Brecht was never convicted of assault, and as he points out in his complaint, he has never been “on the top of any ‘law enforcement list’ of any sort for any reason.”

Huh.

Defamation cases are awfully hard things to win in court. For example, I could relentlessly accuse Hague of eating babies, and she could never win a defamation case against me because nobody in their right mind could reasonably believe that I was seriously accusing her of baby eating. (Though, in fact, Hague does indeed eat babies. Really.) Or, I could falsely accuse her of taking bribes from Eastside developer Skip Rowley, and I’d be pretty much safe as long as I retracted the charge. (Though I’d like to see Hague prove that she doesn’t take bribes from Rowley. Huh? Betcha can’t, Jane.)

And let’s not forget that as a boozing, baby-eating public figure, Hague has even fewer protections against defamation than, say, an ordinary private citizen like Brecht. Hague falsely and maliciously attacked Brecht’s character in retaliation for him endorsing her opponent, and while I’m not sure if her lies quite fit the legal definition of “defamation,” it certainly fits the common definition of being an “asshole.”

In any case, Brecht’s day in court is approaching, and he’s in need of an attorney now that Pope is likely to be called as a witness. So if anybody wants to help out, drop me an email and I’ll hook the two of you up.

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Goldy– This lawsuit will really help solve the State Budget fiasco, mass transit & the financial bailout. Glad you continue to be at the cutting edge of the important issues facing citizens.

PS– If Brecht has such a great case, why aren’t attorney’s jumping all over this on a contingency basis? Just curious. Seems like he might be a bit desperate trolling for a free attorney on HorsesAss.org.

Whether you favor the $700 billion bailout or not, the House vote today should make you cheer — loudly.

Why?

Because the majority vote against it shows that Washington is not entirely in the service of the political donor class, by which I mean Wall Street and the corporations who rely on it for their financing. These campaign donors, a narrow slice of America, have lobbied and donated their way into a system that stacks the economic rules in their favor. But faced with as many as 200 telephone calls against the bailout for every one in favor, a lot of House members decided to listen to their constituents today instead of their campaign donors.

There was a lack of trust, a loss of confidence, a popular revolt.

Nearly every major political leader in America supported the bailout bill. The President of the United States. The Vice President. The Treasury Secretary. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Democratic and Republican nominees for president. The Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and the Senate. All of them said the same thing. Vote yes.

But the leaders anointed by the U.S. Constitution to most reflect the will of the people voted no. This is a remarkable event, the culmination of a historic sense of betrayal that the American people have long felt for their representatives in Washington D.C. Roughly 28 percent of the Americans approve of President Bush. Roughly 18 percent of Americans approve of Congress. These numbers have been like that for years.

Now those bad feelings have manifested themselves in the starkest of terms. Not enough of the American people believed their leaders. And so the politicians that were most exposed ran for cover.

It’s not like they’re going to openly brag about their goatfucking ways. But anybody with a Psych 101 credit knows the score. For instance, through projection Puddy revealed the other day that he puts blackface and a wig on his goat. I gotta say, for a black guy that’s some strange shit.

The Republicans are a loathsome group. And they stopped that bailout bill for the wrong reasons. But I am grateful to them for doing so.

I agree that the economy is in trouble. But this huge giveaway is not the answer. Congress should treat wall street the same way the government treats an applicant for food stamp: Make them disclose every penny in assets they have and then give them only the bare minimum to survive.

You don’t have to win a lawsuit to make it hurt. Merely defending against the lawsuit will cost Hague big bucks. That’ll make Hague think twice before defaming another private citizen — if she’s not too drunk to think at all.

@12 While they’re at it, they should use the same means test for all those rugged individualist Republican-voting self-made ranchers and farmers who would never be able to support themselves and their families without billions of dollars of federal irrigation projects and crop subsidies, all paid for by city taxpayers.

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